


The Road Revisited

by armlessphelan



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cheating, Crazy Lydia, Demonic Possession, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-15 03:49:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1290175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armlessphelan/pseuds/armlessphelan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny didn't mean to raise the dead and murder his best friend. Scott didn't mean to fall in love with Danny so soon after getting back together with Allison. As for Lydia, nobody is sure what she meant to do. Canon compliant up to season 2 finale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Road Untraveled](https://archiveofourown.org/works/766481) by [armlessphelan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/armlessphelan/pseuds/armlessphelan). 



> This is a massive re-editing of my first TW fic, "The Road Untraveled". It's not a rewrite, per se, but things really needed tightened and it's significant enough that I thought I could get away with uploading it as a new fic. But I'll leave the original one up for those prefer to read it with all the mistakes and sloppy writing.

Allison Argent smiled grimly as she sharpened her knife. She'd spent the entire morning practising, sliding it into a ribcage and puncturing a lung, but the blade had dulled after repeatedly scraping the ceramic rib bones on the faux skeleton.

When her phone chirped to alert her of an incoming text, she set the blade and the whetstone on her desk. Her smile faltered when she saw that her was her boyfriend blowing her off yet again.

Since she had learned that Scott McCall was a werewolf, Allison had dealt with a lot. Her mom died and she had what could only be described as a mental breakdown, but with the help of Ms. Morrell she was beginning to adjust. Her dad was letting her see Scott again after the ugliness that was her grandfather. Lydia was only a little bit crazy, though Jackson's death did set her back quite a bit.

“You are an ass.” Allison glared at her phone, imagining Scott on the other end. She threw it on her bed and picked the knife back up. Then she stabbed her desk angrily. The blade stuck out of the wood as she grabbed her bow. She needed to burn off some anger. It was a good thing she still had that picture of Derek Hale hanging on her target in the basement.

TW

“Dude, I'm telling you, this is gonna blow up in your face when Allison finds out.” Stiles warned his best friend as he checked to make sure nobody was coming. “Why can't we tell her about Danny?”

“Because he asked me not to tell anyone,” Scott answered as he tied his shoes. “You'd feel the same way if you killed your best friend. And he wasn't all that excited about me telling you, to be honest.”

Stiles double checked the area around the charred remains of the Hale House. No Hunters or werewolves that weren't Scott were in sight. It didn't mean there weren't any; he just couldn't see them.

“I'd hear or smell someone coming before you saw them,” Scott reminded Stiles as he stood up and stretched. “Now remember, we don't talk about Jackson when Danny gets here.”

“Yeah, because we have so much else in common. Oh, I know! We can talk about computers. Because, I'm such a genius with them.”

Stiles stayed in the house as Scott did a quick perimeter check to make doubly sure there was nobody else around. Derek and his Uncle Peter had warned of another pack on the way to Beacon Hills, but there weren't many other deserted places in town to have secret rendezvous. Though how much of a secret it could be when half the town had somehow been attacked at the Hale House astounded Stiles.

He kicked some scattered leaves off the porch and he thought about his dad. The Sheriff still didn't know the truth about anything in town. Stiles wished he could confide in him like Scott could his mom, but if he knew he'd probably move and take his son with him. The last thing Stiles wanted to do was abandon his best friend.

“Where's Scott?” A deep voice pulled him out of his reverie.

Stiles whirled around in the direction of the sound and saw Danny. He wasn't smiling, but Danny hadn't smiled in ages. He'd stopped sometime before Jackson had gone missing: before Jackson had been murdered.

“Off doing werewolf things to make sure everything is safe. You might've heard him peeing on a tree or something.”

“Funny.” Danny neither looked nor sounded amused as he stepped onto the porch.

They stood awkwardly for a few minutes, waiting on Scott to arrive and not speaking to each other. The only people that knew how Jackson died, or that he was even dead, were the three that would be at the house that night; only Danny and Scott knew why. Despite his best efforts, Stiles hadn't been able to pry out of his best friend what happened. All he was told was that Danny was still human.

“So, about them Yankees...” Stiles started before Scott's sudden arrival interrupted his weak attempt at small talk.

Seeing Scott in wolf form was always a little unsettling for Stiles at first, but he growing relatively used to it. Danny, however, was not. They'd been coming out here three nights a week for the past two weeks, and Danny always looked ready to piss himself when Scott turned. Stiles felt a little cooler for not flinching.

“We're mostly clear; there are some kids from school a couple miles over getting drunk, so we probably only have an hour before they notice something is going on. Unless they get really, really drunk.” Scott eased back into his human form as he relayed the information to his friends. “Less if Derek and his pack show up. Are you two ready?”

“Two? I thought I was just the lookout guy. You know, while you guys do whatever I stand outside and scream like a little girl if anybody with claws or guns shows up,” Stiles protested. It was all he'd done every other time he'd joined them.

Danny shifted his feet but didn't say anything. He just locked eyes with Scott and nodded. Stiles found this suspicious. Not that he didn't find everything else they'd been doing suspicious.

“We've been talking, Stiles. It makes no sense for us to do this without you,” Scott reasoned with a nod. “Allison can take care of herself because she has her dad training her. It's about time someone trained you.”

Holding his hands in the form a “T” as if he were signalling to a referee for a timeout, Stiles stammered a response. “Hold up. You wanna train me to fight werewolves? What do you think I've been doing all this time?”

“Running away and getting knocked out,” Scott answered with a shrug. “And I'm not teaching you how to fight, I'm teaching you how to survive. I can't always be here to rescue you guys and Derek is worried about another pack moving in, in case you've forgotten.

“I just want you to know enough to hold them off until the Argents or I can get there. Provided you can't scream like a girl and run away first.”

“Whatever,” Stiles grumbled before looking at Danny. “If I get a black eye I'm telling everyone that you did it.”

Blinking, Danny stared at Stiles. “What would make you say I did?”

“You found me irresistible and came onto me, but because I don't kiss on the first date I fought you off.”

Danny continued staring at Stiles but said nothing further. It was possible he had no idea what to say to that.

“Let's just get inside before you two start making out,” Scott teased as he passed between them and headed into the empty house.

The big hole that Derek's Uncle Peter had been revived from gaped like a festering wound in the floor. Stiles reasoned that Danny probably didn't even know where it had come from.

“Stiles, I want you to attack me while Danny tries to run. Can you do that?”

“Does Jessica Peters wear a pushup bra?” Stiles shot back as he ran at Scott. Three seconds later he was on his back and Scott had his hand around Danny's throat.

“No banter. It slows your reaction time,” Scott instructed, releasing Danny. Danny responded by punching Scott in the face and kneeing him in the balls before running out the door.

“I see what you mean,” Stiles laughed as he helped Scott up. He stood and watched as Scott ran after Danny. Thirty seconds later Scott was dragging a panting Danny back into the house.

Three more times Scott had them repeat the exercise, and each time they were beaten within a minute. It was looking pretty pathetic, by all accounts. On the third one, though, they managed to surprise Scott by both of them running away. He caught Danny first, then easily nabbed Stiles.

“Danny, can't you hear me coming at you?” Scott asked as they took a break and drank bottled water from an ice-filled cooler. Stiles had "borrowed" it from the police station. “You have a bad tendency to stop and look around.”

“You know how I'm deaf in my left ear, right?” Danny asked. Stiles nodded, but Scott cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head in a confused manner. “Scott, remember when we were in middle school and we had that explosion in the science lab?”

“Sorry about that, by the way,” Stiles interrupted.

Danny waved him off and continued. “Anyway, ever since then I've lost complete hearing in my left ear and only have 80% in my right. That's why coach has me play defence. My coordination is off and I can't throw for shit.”

“Wait, you can't walk in a straight line and I was STILL benched most of last season?!”

“Shut up, Stiles,” Scott said as he threw an empty bottle at him. “So you have hearing problems. Why did you stop when I chased you? You seem to be able to listen to coach on the field.”

“That is two years of practise, Scott. We all know what coach is gonna yell three seconds before he does. What you probably don't know is that Single-Sided Deafness, that's what it's called, it messes up your perception. You can't hear from where people are coming at you. So when someone yells across the hall at school, I sometimes do that little spin thing to see who it was.”

Scott stayed silent for about a minute. Neither he nor Stiles had known that. Nobody had, really.

“So, you can't get hearing aids or anything?” Stiles suggested. His aunt had them, but she was in her 50s.

“Tried them one summer. Nada. Honestly, I've adjusted,” Danny shrugged. “Can we talk about something else? This is kinda pointless.”

“Well work with it next time,” Scott told him. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. “We should probably leave. Stiles, can you clean up? And don't just throw everything in the hole like last time. Derek nearly bit my head off.”

“I hate how becoming a werewolf makes everyone Planeteers,” Stiles whined as he grabbed the bottles on the floor.

As they were walking out the door, Stiles heard Danny ask Scott what a Planeteer was. Scott didn't know. Stiles hated them both.

TW

“So do you have time to be my friend or are you too busy being reunited with your one true love?” Lydia asked as she slammed her locker shut. Then she stuck her finger in her mouth and faked a gagging sound.

“I think I spent more time with Scott when we were sneaking around.” Allison groaned as she realized she'd left her math book and the homework due that day at home. “Can I copy your answers? Mine aren't here right now.”

Lydia popped open her math book and handed the sheet of paper to Allison. “I need that back at lunch. You are so lucky we don't have Algebra together.”

“So I keep telling myself. It's nice to not be the second smartest person in at least one class,” Allison replied with a smile. “You wanna come over tonight and hang? Dad is out of town working. Yes, an actual job event. I'm as shocked as you are.”

“Are you going to leave me the moment Scott calls?” Lydia pouted.

Allison shook her head. “Depends on what he calls about, I guess. In the meantime, I figure we can get some quality girl time.”

“Does girl time involve throwing knives and guns?”

“Yes to the knives. But Dad keeps an ammo log, so you'll have to hold off on that Lara Croft cosplay.” Allison laughed and threw an arm around her friend's shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

“Do we have anything on the occult?” The librarian asked, as if he didn't understand the question. “Do you mean like Twilight?”

“I mean, like, books about the history of witches and werewolves and stuff,” Danny clarified as he fidgeted.

“We don't. We're a school library, and my name isn't Rupert Giles.”

“Who is that?”

Danny walked away from the circulation desk and sat at a table with his laptop. All he could find about werewolves was basic information and bad fanfiction. There was nothing about that Kanima thing Scott told him about, either. The only people who seemed to have any answers were the same ones inspiring all of his questions. If he were honest with himself, he didn't trust any of them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny watched Scott and his friend Isaac trading comics and laughing. After learning about the existence of werewolves, it didn't take Danny long to figure out who in the school was one. They seemed to almost be set apart from the rest of the populace if you knew what to look for.

TW

“This is a halberd. It's not used much anymore, but since you don't have a gun license and my dad would kill me if I gave you one of our firearms, it's best to start you out slow.” Allison showed the weapon to Lydia. When the other girl reached out to touch it, Allison pulled it back and put it away. “Since you're new to this, though, we're going to start you off with a bo staff.”

“Bo staff? You don't trust me with a stick with a knife duct taped on the end?” Lydia complained as Allison tossed her an unadorned wooden staff. She barely managed to catch it.

“No, I don't,” Allison answered simply as she grabbed her own staff and readied her pose. “I want you to learn from my mistakes. Lethal force should be a last resort.”

Allison guided Lydia through how to hold the weapon, what stances offered the best offensive and defensive strikes, and how to assemble one that could be broken down into a more easily concealed form.

“The great thing about wooden arrows is that they can't be picked up by metal detectors,” Allison explained when Lydia asked why they weren't metal. “And neither will one of these.”

“So that's why you use a crossbow.” Lydia tapped her chin with the edge of her staff.

“That and my dad won't let use a gun.” Allison smirked and put her weapon away. "I know how to use them, but he's not comfortable with it."

“Ass,” Lydia laughed as she packed her disassembled staff into her backpack. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem.”

TW

Stiles watched his best friend watch someone else. The fact that he was watching their secret new compatriot only made him more nervous. He'd been the one to help Scott through his werewolf and Allison troubles, and the fact that he wasn't telling him anything about the Danny situation beyond it existing worried him. The last time something like that happened Scott was working with, and against, Allison's crazy grandfather. That did not end well.

“Sucks that lacrosse season is over, huh?” Allison asked as she sat beside her boyfriend. She looked across the cafeteria to try to see what Scott was staring at, but didn't seem particularly interested. “So, what were you up to last night that was so important?”

“Where were you during home room?” Scott turned his head to look at her, and Stiles released his breath. “Was Lydia crying in the bathroom again?”

“...something like that,” she answered evasively. She tucked her hair behind her ear and tried not to smile.

People assumed he was dumb, but Stiles knew how to read people and he could tell that Scott and Allison were keeping secrets from each other. He didn't like it. When people kept secrets in Beacon Hills, other people usually died.

“So... what's the plan for tonight? Looking for Erica and Boyd, or are you two ditching me to go make out?” Stiles asked after a minute of uncomfortable silence. Neither answered. “Okay, then. I'm gonna leave you two here to brood while I go do something interesting.”

Scott looked at the floor as Allison looked at the ceiling. He had packed his lunch but left it in his locker. She had bought hers but wasn't touching it. After a long sigh, Scott finally looked up. He didn't look at Allison.

“She killed herself because of me.”

Allison blinked but kept her eyes on the ceiling. “Scott, please. Don't. Derek bit her, not you.”

“Derek bit her while saving me. She was trying to kill me. He saved me. She found out about us from my mom.” He hated having to tell her. Just saying the words made him feel like shit, but she had to know. He didn't know why, but she did.

“What am I supposed to do with that, Scott? Hate my mother? Stop hating Derek?” Allison growled and moved around the mashed potatoes on her tray. He noticed that she still wasn't eating. “At the end of the day, my mother is still dead and my dad still won't talk to anyone.”

Neither one said anything further. After a few minutes, Allison got up and walked away, leaving her uneaten food on the table. Scott stood and walked to another table. He didn't look at the boy when he sat next to him.

“She can't know,” Scott told Danny. When Jackson had disappeared, people initially tried to be sympathetic, but he drove them off with his distance. Now, he always sat alone. “None of them can know why we killed Jackson.”

“I told you that,” Danny whispered. If he hadn't had his wolf hearing, Scott wouldn't have been able to hear him.

“They can't know that we killed all of them. Can you imagine what they would do? Not just to you, but to me.” Scott twiddled his thumbs and sighed. “Nobody is going to find out about you, Danny. I promise. I haven't even told Stiles what happened.”

Danny shook his head. “But you told him something happened, and he won't stop until he finds out what.”

Scott grabbed Danny's hand. “Listen to me, nobody is going to find out. There is so much weird stuff going on that it's impossible to trace it back to you. And Stiles isn't looking. You're being paranoid.”

Looking into Scott's eyes, Danny managed a weary smile. “It's nice of you to try, but we both know that you can't keep a promise like that. Someone will figure it out eventually.”

“Someone already has.”

Both boys looked up to see Lydia standing at the end of the table. Her arms were folded and her nostrils flared.

“What did you hear?” Scott meekly waved. She didn't return it.

“I know you brought them back, Danny. And I know you killed them, Scott. I know it all.” She smiled widely, leaning and putting her hands on the table. The air grew colder.

Danny let go of Scott's hand and coughed. “We shouldn't be doing this. Not here.”

“Tonight, then.” Lydia relaxed her shoulders, but not her smile. “I'll text you where and when. No Stiles or Allison. But I have a feeling that won't be an issue.”

TW

“She's late,” Danny noted as they waited at the ice rink. “She's late and this is a weird place to meet.”

“It's not that weird,” Scott told him. He shrugged and looked out at the ice. “We came here once. Lydia had a freakout on an epic scale. Which actually is weird, now that I think about it.”

Before he could explain just what had happened on that night, Lydia opened the door. She glanced around before shutting it. “If I find out you two brought anyone else here...”

“It's just us, I promise.” Scott held up his hands as if it would somehow prove they were alone.

The three sat in the bleachers, Lydia making sure to sit a row ahead of them. “I don't know if Scott told you, Danny, but I have a special relationship with the undead.”

“Werewolves aren't the undead. That's, like, vampires and stuff,” Danny explained before being shushed. Scott put his hand over Danny's mouth and gave Lydia a silent apology.

“It's also zombies. Lycanthropy is a disease, I know. I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about how so many of the graves in town look like they were dug up. From the inside.” Lydia stared at the ice and tilted her head. “Allison's father and the police both think it was either Derek Hale's pack or grave robbers, respectively. But I know you two did it. What I don't know is what you're doing with them.”

“How do you know?” Danny asked. “How do you know we did anything?”

“Because I know that Jackson died twice. When he came back after being hit by Stiles' car, he came back wrong. And that's why you had to kill him, Danny. And you had Scott help you cover it up. You two covered it all up, and did a sloppy job of it.”

Scott covered his face and sighed into his hands. Of all times, Lydia would pick now to be lucid and intelligent.

“We call it the Necrostone and it's a family heirloom. From back in Hawaii, that is.” Danny scratched the back of his hand. His voice was wracked with guilt, but his words were clear. “It's supposed to grant wishes. I wished for... I wanted someone back from the dead. An unnatural death. I guess that includes werewolf victims. I only used it the one time. Honestly, I didn't think it would work, nobody in my family does, but I wasn't thinking clearly.”

“Why did you use it? Who did you bring back?” Lydia asked quietly. Scott could tell she was thinking about Jackson. “Where is it now?”

Scott cleared his throat. “I took care of it, Lydia. And you don't have to know why Danny used it. Just that he did. Now how did you know about us? We've been sloppy about the graves, but nobody has found the bodies. And they won't.”

When Danny shivered, Scott put a hand on his shoulder. Nobody would ever learn what happened to the bodies. Even Danny didn't know. It was better that way.

“I saw you snap Allison's mom's neck, Scott. Weeks after they buried her, you broke her neck and dragged her back to the cemetery.”

“He had no choice.” Danny was on the verge of pleading and it broke Scott's heart. He squeezed his friend's shoulder in an attempt to provide some form of comfort. “Like you said: Jackson came back wrong. And so did everyone else. You just didn't notice the others because they were trapped underground for days.”

“So, what, they were mindless zombies? Then why wasn't Jackson? Why did you kill him?” Lydia's voice broke, but her composure did not.

“Because it wasn't Jackson.” Scott answered so Danny wouldn't. “It was Jackson's body. It was his voice, his memories, but it wasn't him.”

“And how do you know that?!” Lydia screamed as she slammed her fists onto the bleacher. Danny started crying and became unable to speak. Scott squeezed his shoulder again, even though he knew it wouldn't do any good.

Closing his eyes, Scott swallowed the lump in his throat. “We know because Jackson tried to kill Danny. I happened to be in the area, but whatever was in Jackson's body overpowered me easily. Danny killed him by stabbing him in the neck. He severed the base of the spinal cord or something. I'm not a doctor. But these things... some of them are violent from the beginning and others take their time. Whatever it is that is animating them, they're intelligent. Maybe not smart, but there's a...”

"Sentience," Lydia finished when Scott couldn't.

Danny was sobbing and rocking back and forth. He grabbed at the hand Scott had on his shoulder as if it were the only thing anchoring him to sanity. It likely was. Danny didn't do much in the way of hunting. All the bloody work was left to Scott. All Danny did was keep an eye out and clean up the scenes while Scott dumped the bodies.

“So, how do you know it wasn't just the Kamina coming back?” Lydia's voice was quiet and her eyes bore into the back of Danny's head. “Whatever happened to your not killing mantra, Scott?”

Scott didn't answer because he didn't have one. When he and Danny killed Jackson, they didn't know that he'd been possessed. They actually thought they were killing him. And it haunted them both.

“Can you at least tell me about the Necrostone?”

“That's not it's real name. We don't know its real name. Like Danny said, it's just a thing that got passed down through his family.” Scott answered since he knew this one. He also answered because Danny was unable to do it. “It was the name of an artifact in a comic book. It seemed to fit the situation.”

“The situation is zombies and murder, Scott. A comic book? Really?” Lydia scoffed as she blinked away tears. “Do you know if you killed them all?”

“It's not murder, Lydia. These aren't people. They're something else.”

“Do you even know if it's stopped? Scott? Danny? Are more people going to 'come back wrong'?” Lydia stood and angrily pointed at them. “What the hell did you do? You idiots!”

Lydia stormed out of the bleachers, but stopped when she reached the floor. She didn't even look at them. “I'm not telling Allison. Not yet. The last thing she needs is to find out that you took away her mother. Even if it wasn't really her."

Then she left the ice skating rink, slamming the door behind her. Scott just cursed himself as he held a crying Danny.


	3. Chapter 3

Allison easily dodged Lydia's awkward kick and smoothly ripped the bo staff from her hands. “You're not concentrating.”

“Sorry. Things have been weird.” Lydia stretched before Allison tossed the weapon back to her. “Without mentioning anything with a Y chromosome, how have you been?”

“Stagnant” she answered as she began shadowboxing. “It seems like I'm so used to big drama that I don't know how to function without it anymore. And the house is so quiet all the time.”

“You know, you can stay at my place any time. My parents would totally be fine with it. Not that my dad gets a say since the divorce, but I let him think he does.”

“Your parents, no offence, have been really weird ever since the running naked through the woods thing. I'll pass. Dad and I...”

“No Y chromosomes!” Lydia shouted as she made shushing motions at Allison. “We need a girls night out that doesn't involve weapons or homework or moping over boys. Are you free Saturday?”

“Actually I have a date with Sco...” Allison started before laughing. “I can cancel my plans this once since he's been cancelling on me left and right the last few weeks.”

Lydia didn't say anything. She just looked off to the side, looking pensive, then smiled and hugged her best friend.

“Do you just want to call it a night and go veg on the couch and watch bad teen melodramas?” Allison asked as she began putting away the training equipment scattered around the garage.

“Sure. What braincells you didn't kill by kicking me in the head eight hundred times would love death by terrible acting.”

TW

All Scott could think about was how weird things had been the night before. He pretty much ignored Stiles and Allison all through school, and Danny was on his way to his house to talk about Lydia. His mom was working and Derek was too busy trying to find his missing pack members to care about what “the traitor” was up to.

He searched the internet for anything about stones that could raise the dead, but all he found anywhere close to what he was looking for was voodoo zombies. He bookmarked a few sites just in case, but Danny's family was from the Pacific Islands, not the Tropic of Cancer. It was doubtful a religion tied to the Atlantic Ocean and New Orleans was involved in a Hawaiian artifact.

Scott heard the steps before the doorbell rang. He bounded down the stairs with a speed that humans would have to work years to achieve. He almost slammed the door shut when he saw that Danny wasn't alone.

“Hello, Scott. So nice to see you again.” Derek's uncle casually tossed Danny through the doorway by the collar of his shirt. “My nephew sends his best wishes.”

“How goes the search for Boyd and Erica? Anything?” Scott asked as he helped Danny up, careful to keep one eye trained on Peter. He wanted to ask if Danny was okay, but got a silent look telling him it wasn't important. “I'm a little surprised that Derek would let you out of his sight, since he doesn't trust you nearly as far as he can throw you.”

“See, that's the thing, Scott: you don't get that kind of information from anyone but the Alpha of a pack. Especially after your subterfuge was revealed. Derek is still upset. Peter offered his words with an accompanying smarmy grin. “No, I'm here on his behalf. He wants to know why you and your little friend here have been spending so much time at our familial home and in the graveyard.”

“You can tell Derek that any questions he has he needs to ask me himself,” Scott growled after shifting into wolf mode. “Now get out of my house before I throw you out.”

“We both know that you wouldn't be able to do that, Scott. I may be just a Beta, but I'm older and stronger and more experienced than you are.” Peter bowed, an inappropriate leer still on his face. “But I'll happily deliver your message. Anything else I should tell my darling nephew?”

Scott thought for a moment, but Danny was the one to speak up. “Actually, no, but I have a question for you.”

Cocking his head curiously, Peter looked at Scott and ignored Danny. “Why is your friend talking to me without a proper introduction, Scott? I don't recall giving him condition.”

“Danny, this is Derek Hale's evil Uncle Peter. Peter, this is my friend Danny. Touch him again and I'll kill you."

Peter just smiled as his eyes lingered on Danny. “I would never dream of cavorting about with a mongrel from another pack, Scott. That pleasure is all yours.”

“Huh?” Scott asked, confused. “What are you talking about? I don't have a pack.”

“Not an official one, no, but you're an odd Omega, Scott. Most of them don't hang about with humans.”

Stomping his foot to get the attention of the two wolves, Danny looked immediately like he regretted it as soon as Peter looked at him.

“Yes, young man?”

Standing as tall as he could, Danny did his best to look Peter in the eye. “If you're this Derek guy's uncle, then you're the one who came back from the dead. How did you do it?”

“You want to know the secrets of magic, little one?” Peter asked as he sauntered up to Danny, his face inches from the boy's. He breathed heavily in his face, smiling as he sniffed him. “There are things that man is not meant to know.”

“What about me?” Scott asked as he grabbed Peter by the arm, roughly pulling him away from Danny. He made sure to dig his claws in a little tighter than necessary.

With a flourished bow, Peter pulled out of Scott's grip and stepped onto the porch. “I'll tell you two things. First, if you want me to talk, you should really talk to my nephew.”

“And the second thing?” Scott asked as he crossed his arms.

“Make sure your lap dogs know their place. I might not be so friendly next time.”

Peter shifted into full wolf mode and ran off into the dark night. Scott watched him until he rounded a corner, then slammed the door and turned to Danny.

“Hey, man, are you okay?” He asked as he walked Danny to the living room. He sat the silent Danny on the sofa and walked to the kitchen. He retrieved a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. “Do you need any ice?”

Danny didn't answer, so Scott brought him the lukewarm water and set it on a coaster on the table. Peter may have been scary and threatening, but Scott knew his mother would kill him for leaving water rings on the furniture.

“How do you do this? How does Stiles do this?” Danny asked in a raspy voice as he grabbed the water with a trembling hand. “How do you look people in the eye that would kill you without blinking and not crumble?”

Scott put one arm around Danny's shoulder and the other hand on his knee. “I do crumble. A lot. I just wait until they leave to do it. Hell, my girlfriend's entire family wanted me dead three months ago.”

“I think he might know something, Scott. If he came back from the dead like you told me he did, then he knows something. And we have to find out if he knows anything about the Necrostone.”

“We will, Danny, but first we have to figure out what we're going to do about Lydia,” Scott reminded him. “She knows all about what we've been doing. And I really don't want her to tell Allison or Allison's dad.”

With a growing aura of confidence, Danny smiled and hugged Scott. “You idiot, we're going to tell her what happened tonight. We're going to tell Lydia everything. And we're going to ask her to help us.”

Scott awkwardly put his arms around Danny, returning a hug. As he stifled a choke on the scent of Danny's Armani cologne, he felt one more thing click in his head. Something Peter had alluded to and he hadn't picked up on.

“Danny.” Scott said as he broke the hug.

“Yeah?” Danny released Scott and finally took a drink of the water he had been holding.

Putting a hand on Danny's thigh, Scott leaned in and breathed deeply. “I can taste it, you know.”

“Know what?” Danny asked as he leaned back. He looked concerned, but not scared.

Then Scott kissed him. It was awkward, unpleasant, and both knew it was a bad idea. Danny dropped his glass of water on the sofa. Scott ignored his damp pants as he leaned further into the kiss. His senses started to leave him until all he could do was smell the pheromones that Danny was emitting. It was the first time he'd been felt drunk since Lydia's birthday party.

Pushing Scott away, Danny stood up and walked into the kitchen. Knowing to give him distance, Scott instead turned his attention to the spilled water all over the sofa. He grabbed the glass and put it on the coaster on the table, then he commenced to flipping the cushions in the hopes that his mother wouldn't notice.

“Dammit.” Scott cursed himself as he thought of Allison. He knelt onto the floor and put his head into an accent pillow and screamed. He'd lost control and had been running off animalistic lust. And with Danny of all people!

“Scott?” Danny's voice was small, and Scott looked up to see him staring from around the corner in fear.

“It's okay.” Scott assured him before sitting down on the arm of the sofa. He ran his hand through his hair and continued mentally cursing himself. “It's not okay. I have a girlfriend.”

“And I'm a guy,” Danny said as he remained half-hidden by the wall. Scott wasn't sure if Danny was reminding him or asking him.

“That, too. We can't do this tonight. Danny. I have to go. You can stay if you want. I have to go.”

Danny eased himself around the corner and into the living room, but maintained a healthy distance between himself and Scott. “You already said that. If you're confused or anything, I'm here to talk.”

“No offence, Danny, but you're kind of the last person I want to talk to right now.”

“Understandable,” Danny agreed before Scott bolted out the door.

TW

Stiles just sat on his bed and watched Scott pace a hole in his floor while muttering to himself. He didn't need to ask what happened, because whenever Scott got like this it was usually about Allison. He got more worked up over that girl than he did the various people and monsters trying to kill them.

“Dude, just apologize to her and stop trying to dig a hole to China in my bedroom,” Stiles finally said as he threw a pillow at Scott. The action seemed to have snapped his friend out of his stupor.

Sitting in the swivelling office chair, Scott spun around a few times before settling into what could barely pass as a comfortable position. He said nothing for several minutes. Scott smacked himself in the forehead once before looking at Stiles.

“You're the werewolf expert. Does this increase my sex drive or something? Did that bite make me super horny? Or is it time for the full moon already? Because I thought that was still a few weeks away.” Scott continued rambling before Stiles threw another pillow at him.

“What did you do?” Stiles scooted to the edge of the bed and did his best to look Scott in the face, which was difficult since Scott was doing everything in his power to look anywhere but at his friend. “Scott, tell me, what did you do?”

“I made out with someone that isn't Allison,” Scott half whispered before hiding his face in his hands.

Stiles absorbed this information for about half a second before jumping to his feet. “Was it Lydia again? I swear, Scott, if you did this to me again I'm going to kick your ass.”

“It wasn't Lydia, Stiles. I wouldn't do that to you,” Scott declared as he looked at the floor. "Well, not again."

“But you would do it to Allison. That is screwed up, Scott, even for the soap opera you two call a relationship.”

“You think I don't know that?” Scott yelled as he slammed his fist on Stiles' desk, causing it to crack. “Err, sorry.”

“Step away from the furniture and expensive electronics, Scott. And calm down. Now who was it?”

Scott was quiet for several seconds before offering a non-answer. “It doesn't matter.”

“See, I've watched enough cable TV to know that when someone says that it actually does matter. A lot. Who was it, Scott? It's not like we talk to that many girls.”

Stiles was shocked to see Scott shut down with one sentence. He played it over in his head and got down on one knee so he could look up into Scott's eyes. They were squeezed shut.

“It wasn't a girl, was it? Scott, dude, was it Danny?” Stiles asked as he shook his friend's leg. “You know you can talk to me.”

“Why would you guess Danny?” Scott kept his eyes shut because he didn't want Stiles to see the truth in them.

“You two have been spending a lot of time together, and Danny is a good looking guy... Scott, do you think I'm attractive?”

“What?” Scott asked as he finally opened his eyes and looked down at Stiles' upturned face.

Stiles could feel Scott tensing and backed away. “Come on, you know what I mean. I'm not gay, and I don't care if you are, but do you think I'm hot?”

“I am not gay, Stiles, and I'm not answering that question.”

“Why not?”

“It's weird.”

“And making out with Danny isn't?” Stiles asked as he started primping in his mirror.

Scott cleared his throat and then laughed for the first time that day. “I never said I made out with Danny. Or any guy. And I'm not gay. And you look fine, you dork.”

“Thank you for that,” Stiles said a smile. “Now, then, are you going to tell Allison that you made out with Danny?”

“Stiles...”

“Fine,” he sighed in response. “Are you going to tell your girlfriend that knows ten different ways to kill you that you made out with someone else of an undetermined gender?”

“Do you think I should? I shouldn't. Should I? Because I think the wolf took over, Stiles. I really do.”

“Scott, the wolf took over?” Stiles rather seriously.

“I think so.”

Stiles sighed and grabbed his cellphone. “This is gonna suck so bad, man.”

TW

Stiles pulled his jeep up to the Hale House, wishing every second that he was driving anywhere else. He hated coming here when Scott wanted to do his sadistic training exercises, and that was when he knew he wasn't going to have his head ripped off by a lunatic.

“I see you still don't have car privileges. Your mom still pissed at you for hiding the fangs from her, Scott?” Derek asked with a laugh as scanned the treeline nervously.

“He wanted backup in case you tried something,” Stiles answered for his friend. “Look, we just had some questions is all.”

Isaac and Peter walked out of the house and stood behind Derek, outnumbering Scott and Stiles. “I'm all for an exchange of information. Why are you and your friends hanging out in my house, Scott?”

“It's secluded and the Argents would never look for anything here. They've written it off. It's just a weekly patrolling point now, and I know ahead of time when they check it out,” the boy answered simply. “There's something coming, Derek. Something bad. And I think he knows.”

Derek looked at Peter and laughed. “Of course he knows, Scott. He's the one who has been helping me prepare for the invading pack. We've already seen at least one of their scouts.”

“Invading pack?” Stiles shouted before shaking Scott's arm. “Scott, there's an invading pack. We can barely deal with the ones that don't want us dead!”

“There's an invading pack?” Scott repeated in disbelief. “That is so not what I need right now.”

“Does that answer your question or are you two going to continue wasting my night?” Derek asked.

Stiles stepped forward and spoke for his friend. “Does the wolf ever take over when it's not the full moon?”

Peter smirked, but it was Derek who laughed and answered. “The wolf isn't like an alternate personality. It's a part of who you are. It doesn't take over so much as you lose control. And Scott here seemed to have gained control. Are you having trouble being a lone wolf?”

“Does the wolf change you?” Stiles pressed further since Scott didn't want to. “Does it change you, you know, sexually?”

“STILES!” Scott shouted as Isaac burst into a giggle fit.

Derek was too busy laughing himself to answer, but Peter calmly walked over to Scott. He ignored Stiles completely. Placing the flat of his index finger under Scott's chin, Peter tilted his head upward so their eyes could meet. “The wolf doesn't change your sexuality. It does heighten it, but being a teenager I don't think it's possible for your sex drive to actually go any higher than it already is. Any feelings or confusion you have you would have had with or without the bite.”

“Back away, Pedowolf,” Stiles warned as he stepped between Scott and Peter. Peter bared his his fangs at Stiles but chuckled in an amused manner. “Scott, let's just get out of here.”

Scott didn't want to leave, though. He walked around Stiles and up to Peter. “How did you come back from the dead?”

“You'll have to ask your friend, Lydia, Scotty boy. She's the one who did all the work.”

“But it was your plan. How did you do it?” Scott demanded.

Peter pulled him in for a hug and whispered something in Scott's ear. When he let him go, Scott grabbed Stiles by the coat sleeve and told him they needed to leave. Not wanting to stay, Stiles climbed into the jeep and started it. He didn't even buckle up before pulling away from the house.

“So, I guess being a werewolf doesn't make you gay. That's a relief. I don't have anything against gay people, but the last thing I want is for Derek Hale to come onto me. Right, Scott? Scott?”

“Stiles...” Scott muttered as he looked off into the darkness of the night. “I'm not gay, but I am scared.”

“Of what?”

“Peter Hale, Stiles. He knows what I've been doing and why.”

“Scott?” Stiles stopped the jeep and shook his friend, but it didn't seem to make any difference. “Scott, what have you been doing? You are scaring me a lot more than three creeps ever have.”

Scott looked to be on the verge of tears as he opened the door to Stiles' jeep. He climbed out without a word and slammed the door. Stiles blinked and his best friend was gone.

TW

Danny opened his front door even though it was late and his parents were bound to be pissed. When he saw Scott, he didn't say a word. Danny stood back and let Scott into his home. “We have to be quiet. My parents go to sleep insanely early and Jackson was the only person they'd let into the house at this hour.”

“He knows, Danny. It's not just Lydia. Peter Hale knows, too.”

“That werewolf guy? How did he find out?” Danny groaned as he led Scott up the stairs. It wasn't exactly a conversation for the living room. “I know it's weird that we're going to my bedroom, but nothing is going to happen, Scott. Nothing.”

“The last thing I'm worried about right now is my rating on the Kinsey Scale, Danny,” Scott lied as he followed him. The thought had been in the back of his head the entire night. Especially after what Peter told him. “There is a sociopath out there who knows what we've been doing with our free time. Did you call Lydia?”

“She's already here, Scott. And she's pissed. She was with Allison when I called. I guess Allison called you and never returned her call.”

Allison was not a priority to Scott at that moment, but he didn't want to say it. Danny opened his bedroom door and ushered Scott inside. Lydia was sitting on Danny's bed. Her legs were crossed as were her arms.

“Scott McCall,” she hissed as she pointed a finger at him, “you need to tell me what the hell is going on and right now. Danny here wanted to wait until you showed up to tell me. I ditched YOUR girlfriend for this. Something you seem to excel at lately.”

“This is a little bigger than high school sweethearts and their relationship problems, Lydia,” Danny scolded as he sat at his desk. Scott just stood awkwardly.

“I know that, you imbecile. Now what development happened in one day that was so important you had to call at ten at night?”

Scott was the one to speak. “Peter Hale knows about everything. The stone, the killings, and that you know. Lydia, I think you two are still bonded.”

“So he knows about this conversation?” Lydia gasped.

“I'm counting on it,” Scott answered. He walked over to the fish tank on Danny's night stand pulled a black rock out of it. It was smooth, and looked as though it has recently been set into a necklace. “If Peter Hale does know what you know, Lydia, I want him to know that I have the Necrostone and that I want answers or I'm going to destroy it.”

“You can't!” Danny exclaimed in a hushed voice. “Scott, if my parents find out I destroyed that they'll kill me!”

“Danny, it's a little past time to worry about that,” Scott answered as he pocketed the stone. “Listen, Lydia, please don't say anything about this to Allison. Nobody outside of the three of us and Peter knows anything. Not even Stiles. I'm begging you.”

Lydia made a choking motion in Scott's direction and growled, but she agreed. She pointed her finger at Scott again and warned him to treat Allison better or he'd regret before leaving.

“Scott, about Allison. Are you going to tell her?”

“Tell her what, Danny? That you created smart zombies or something and I had to put them all back in the ground? Do you know how ridiculous that is?” Scott protested as he finally sat down on Danny's bed. “Or did you want me to tell her I made a move on you and I don't even know why? Because those are both really bad ideas right now. Really, really bad ideas.”

“Scott, if you need to talk, I'm still here. Lots of straight guys experiment. It's cool. Really.”

“I'm not having a coming out drama, Danny. If I'm bisexual or whatever I'll deal. I just don't want to hurt Allison.”

Danny sat upright and gave Scott a look that seemed to bore right through him. “In all honesty, Scott, I'm more worried about you hurting yourself than I am about you hurting Allison. You have to deal with things. You can't just ignore them.”

“I'm dealing, Danny. I've been dealing for months with things that you wouldn't understand, and now I'm cleaning up your mess.”

“Forgive me for giving a damn.”

Rubbing his face with the palms of his hands, Scott let his shoulders droop and he fell onto his side and stared at Danny from his bed. “I'm sorry. It's been a stressful night. I don't know what to do. I'll figure it out, though. I always figure it out.”

Danny looked out his window and sighed. When he looked back at Scott, the other teenager was asleep. Danny tried to wake him up, but couldn't. He assumed it was a werewolf thing and pulled Scott's cellphone from the pocket of his jacket. Then he sent a text to his mom saying he was staying at a friend's house. They'd probably call in sick in the morning after Danny's parents had already left for work and then go see that Peter Hale guy again.

TW

Stiles pulled into his driveway, more shaken than he thought he would be by Scott's abandonment of him in the woods. He'd seen a lot of disturbing things since his best friend was bitten: Scott being so scared that he actually ran away when his first instinct is usually to fight was pretty high up on the list.

His dad wasn't home, so obviously it was going to be a frozen pizza kind of night. Stiles was walking in the front door and debating whether he wanted a cheese or pepperoni pizza when he smelled pasta. It was weird, because neither he nor his father cooked.

“Dad, are you home?” Stiles called out nervously. He grabbed the first thing he could, the shoe on his left foot, and walked into the kitchen. When he saw who was in there, he dropped the shoe.

He'd hadn't seen her in years. All that remained were the pictures his dad had hanging on the walls. The Sheriff always told Stiles that he was the miracle baby who kept his wife alive.

“Welcome home, Stiles. I've wanted to return to you for ages, but your father just didn't want me to come home. Didn't you dear?”

Stiles looked away from his mother and saw that his dad was tied up in the corner of the kitchen. There was blood trickling from his forehead. When he looked back to the woman who looked just like his dead mother, he was greeted with a cast iron skillet to the face.


	4. Chapter 4

It felt shockingly good when Allison's fist connected with Scott's throat. She had more pent up anger than she'd guessed. Then she slammed her shin into his chin while he was bent over, knocking him onto his back.

“After you've stunned your opponent, you want to disarm him with a stomp to the wrist and kicking the weapon away like this,” Allison explained as she crushed Scott's wrist with the heel of her boot. “Then you two run. Any questions?”

“Why do you guys keep telling us to run? I get why Scott can fight, but I'm stronger than you are,” Danny asked nervously, making an obvious attempt to avoid looking at either instructor.

As an answer, Allison helped Scott up, then threw him over her shoulder and held her foot down on his neck. “I've had years of self-defence classes and weapons training because my dad wanted me to be able to take care of myself.”

“I have mace,” Lydia replied as she held up her key ring. “Look, I'm glad you two talked and we're doing this as a group, but it's all so Buffy. The only thing we're missing is the cranky British librarian.”

“Can I get up now?” Scott grunted as he patted Allison's leg. After squeaking out an apology, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

“Okay, now that you've all seen how to do it, who wants to practice?” Allison asked as she looked at the time on her cell phone. “My dad isn't home until eight tonight, so we have a couple of hours.”

“I did not agree to this,” Scott weekly protested. Allison didn't listen.

TW

Scott didn't need the ice, and Allison knew that, but he held it to his face anyway. “We've been kind of distant lately.”

“We?” Allison raised an eyebrow as she poured herself a glass of milk. “Scott, every time we make plans you cancel them. And the one time I cancel, you don't even acknowledge me. It's getting really old.”

“I'm sorry. Danny learned about the whole werewolf thing and I've been busy dealing with that,” Scott lied. He didn't want to lie to his girlfriend, but he knew telling her the truth was a horrible idea. “Every time I cancelled a date, it was so I could make sure he didn't blow our cover.”

“Why didn't you just tell me?” Allison was angry. She slammed the door to her fridge so hard it popped back open. Milk spilled out of her glass and onto her hand and the floor, but she ignored it. “I thought we were over secrets and lies after what happened with my grandfather.”

“I'm sorry. My first instinct was to protect you. I wanted to tell you, but not until I was sure what things were like.”

Allison reached into another cabinet and retrieved a package of cookies. She slapped Scott's hand when he reached for one. “No. This is your punishment for lying to me. I can take care of myself, Scott. You should know this by now. I'm tired of you and my dad trying to redefine me intobeing someone that needs to be protected from everything.”

“I'll try to keep you in the loop from now on. I promise.” Scott had no intention of keeping this promise. He mentally kicked himself for the deception before having an idea. “Hey, Allison, do you still have your grandfather's stuff here? Like, his books?”

She looked at him quizzically, but nodded in affirmation. “What is it, Scott? Is there another were-creature running around?”

“No, I just want some answers on an old mystery. We never did find out how Peter Hale came back from the dead. Not even with Lydia's involvement. Can you see if your grandfather had anything about resurrection in his books and notes?”

“I guess. It would be easier if I had your help.”

“I would, but I'm busy tonight. Thanks!” Scott gave Allison a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing his jacket and bolting out the door.

With an exasperated groan, Allison threw the cookie she was eating into the garbage can and took her glass of milk upstairs.

TW

Stiles stared at his dad, who was staring at his mom. He hadn't eaten in hours and he'd already pissed himself once. That was something that TV and movies conveniently left out when they had people tied up for days.

Why hadn't Scott or somebody from the station stopped by? The woman who looked just like his dead mother had cooked all through the night and dumped the food into the garbage as soon as she had finished it. The radio loudly played old rock music and the woman sang along.

There was a knock on the door that gave Stiles hope. His mother's lookalike happily walked to the door, loudly humming a nursery rhyme. “Hello. Welcome to the Stilinski home. Who are you?”

“Hi, my name is Lydia Martin. I'm here to see Stiles. Are you the cleaning lady?”

His heart sank and Stiles started slamming his head against the wall to try to signal to Lydia that it wasn't safe.

“No, of course not. I'm Mrs. Stilinski. I just got home last night from an extended vacation. Would you like to come in?”

“I just need to see Stiles. Is he home?” Lydia answered.

Stiles had stopped pounding his head when his vision started blurring, and he went back to struggling against his bonds. He didn't understand why his father seemed to be almost catatonic. He didn't know why his mother was alive.

“Stiles isn't feeling well right now, dear. Can I take a message?”

“Yeah,” Lydia answered. Stiles heard the jingle of keys. “Remind him that the crazy bitch knows a zombie when she sees one.”

His mother let out an unearthly scream and there was the sound of glass breaking. Stiles saw Lydia run into the living room, his mother stumbling after her and vigorously wiping her eyes. There was the sound of a struggle and wood cracking. Scott heard Lydia scream and more glass breaking.

He saw the woman posing as his mother fly through the doorway and land on her back. Lydia ran into the kitchen wielding a table leg. She cracked Stiles' mom across the temple with it before seeing Stiles tied up in the corner.

“I am so glad I was right, because this would be really awkward otherwise.” Lydia smacked the table leg into Stiles' mom's face once more before throwing it out of the room. The she grabbed a knife from the counter.  
Lydia pulled Stiles' gag out of his mouth and set to hacking away at his bindings.

“Who the hell is that? You mom is dead, right?” Lydia asked as she moved from Stiles' wrists to his feet. “I mean, I'm pretty sure you said she's dead.”

“She is. I watched it happen,” Stiles answered weakly. He was too tired to move. Beyond the initial blackout, he hadn't slept. “She looks so much like her, though. Well, like her pictures. She doesn't move like my mom did.”

After finishing with Stiles, Lydia checked to make sure the woman was still unconscious before moving onto his dad. She'd said that she'd seen too many movies where someone thought they'd knocked the killer unconscious just to die two minutes later.

“Sheriff Stilinski, are you okay? Can you talk?” Lydia asked as she pulled out the dirty rag that had been stuffed into his mouth.

He didn't say a word. He just slowly blinked and kept his eyes fixated on the doppelganger of his dead wife.

“Stiles, I think he's in shock,” Lydia said as she pulled out her phone and began to dial her phone. She handed the knife to Stiles and stood over the woman. When the person on the other end of the call answered, her voice went into a deep whisper. “Danny, you need to get your ass over to the Stilinski house right now.”

TW

Scott waited at the Hale House. He could feel the Necrostone in his jacket pocket: he wasn't sure if it was his subconscious or what, but he could've sworn it was warm. The stone was cool to the touch when he reached in and felt it.

There was an eerie silence that hung over the burnt out old homestead. Every other time Scott had been there, something really bad was going down and it was loud and noisy. The feeling that something big was happening stayed at the back of his mind. Whether Peter showed up or not, Scott was already spooked.

It was eleven o'clock before Scott finally saw another soul, but it wasn't Peter. Derek calmly walked into his old familial home and held his arms out. “What do you want, Scott? Why are you here?”

“I'm supposed to be meeting your uncle, Derek,” Scott replied firmly. “He told me to come here. Why are you here? Where is Peter?”

“That's the thing. After our little run-in last night he disappeared. I can't track him. It's like he vanished off the face of the Earth and I think you know why. You've been weirder than usual. What is going on?”

“Derek, do you know anything about the undead?”

“You mean, like, zombies and vampires and stuff? Yeah, I know that Hollywood is obsessed with them.”

Scott laughed; it was needed. “I was thinking more along the lines of your less-than-dead uncle. You're the werewolf expert that doesn't want to immediately shoot things in the head. How did he come back?”

“I don't know, Scott. You think I haven't asked him? He won't spill.”

“But you're the Alpha,” Scott reasoned. He'd played his cards too early when he spilled that he knew about Lydia's connection to Peter, and as a result he'd spooked the one person who had any kind of answers about what was going on.

“Yeah, and that apparently means nothing. It's not like you didn't have your own secret agenda when you were in my pack, Scott,” Derek pointed out. When Scott had no rebuttal, Derek shrugged and started to leave. He stopped in the doorway. “Oh, and Scott, I need you and your friends to stop coming here. You can do what you want anywhere else, but this is still my family's home and I need you to respect that.”

TW

Allison had pored through every book and journal in her grandfather's collection, and the only things she could find about raising the dead involved voodoo. That seemed unlikely to be the case with Peter Hale, since he clearly retained his own faculties and wasn't under someone's thrall. Nonetheless, Allison noted them and set them off to the side.

She sent Scott a text letting him know what she had found, but she didn't expect a response. It seemed less like they were dating and more like they were business partners. She even mused that Scott might as well be a silent partner in the relationship.

When she heard the sound of the front door, Allison grabbed the books she needed and quietly slipped out of the room. She used her stealth training to silently walk to her own room and set the books under her desk.

“Daddy, is that you?” She called out.

“Who else would it be?” He stood at the bottom of the stairs. There was a large smile on his face. It was the first time Allison had seen him smile since her mom died.

Her feet hit the stairs and and she practically jumped into her dad's arms again like a little girl when she reached the bottom. He caught her and gave her a bear hug, laughing in her ear.

“What brought this on?” He asked with a laugh in his voice. “You haven't done that since you were seven.”

Allison didn't say anything. She was just so happy to see her father happy. He sat her down on her feet and leaned against the wall. He let out a whistle and waved a hand.

“Hey, Ally!” a woman called out as she walked into the house. She was as tall as Chris Argent, with short red hair that might've been frizzy if it were allowed to grow. “How is my favourite cousin?”

“I didn't know you were coming, Rory!” Allison gushed as she hugged the 20something. “How are Uncle Andrew and Aunt Cecily?”

“You know, getting stoned and planting pineapples. They have some weird communes in Arizona.”

“Can pineapples grow in the desert?” Chris Argent asked as he ruffled his niece's hair.

“I don't think so, but you explain that to a bunch of wacked out hippies,” Rory giggled. “I would've come out for the funeral, but I had finals to deal with. Are you guys doing okay?”

With that, Allison watched as her father's smile fell away. Thankfully, her cousin hadn't noticed. “Thanks, Rory. We're doing okay. The flowers you sent were nice. We weren't expecting you, so the guest room is kind of a mess. Dad, do you mind keeping Rory company while I clean up?”

“I can crash on the couch, Ally,” Rory assured her cousin. “Trust me, a broke college student learns to sleep on anything. Besides, I thought your grandfather was staying in the guest room. Aunt Victoria mentioned that he was here the last time I talked to her.”

A quiet fell over the house. Allison was sure Rory would think it was because she'd mentioned her mother's name, but in truth the Argents and the other hunters had done their best to cover up her grandfather's disappearance. Nobody knew where his body had gone to after the Hales had killed him, if he was even dead.

“He left on an urgent matter,” Allison's dad explained. “He left a lot of his stuff here. Someone is supposed to come for it soon, so we just left it alone. Allison is right, though. We need to get that cleaned up. How about I take care of it and you two girls catch up? You can go to a movie or something.”

“Dad, it's late. The theatre is closed and you have work in the morning.” Allison reasoned. She didn't want to run the risk of him noticing anything was missing. “Go to bed. I've got this. Rory, there's a frozen pizza you can put in the oven.”

“Was she always this bossy?” Rory asked her uncle as Allison pushed her father to the stairs.

“Pizza. Now!” Allison ordered. Her dad just shrugged and complied.

TW

“You need to tell me what the hell is going on!” Lydia shouted as she pointed at the bound and gagged woman lying unconscious on the kitchen floor; Stiles was upstairs with his not-quite-aware father. “Danny, what the hell have you started? I stop by to see why Stiles wasn't at werewolf boot camp and I find this crazy woman holding those two hostage.”

“What part of 'I don't know' is so hard to understand?” Danny yelled back in her face. “You know everything I know. She looks just like those pictures of Stiles' mother we he showed us back in elementary school.”

Lydia stomped her foot and punched the wall. “Your damn rock did this. Scott had better be getting some answers from Peter Hale, or I'm gonna start killing people. I think I'm going to start with you, Danny Mahealani.”

“I'm going to call Scott: see if he has anything.” Danny pulled out his phone and walked away. It was more to get away from Lydia than actual concern, but he reasoned that Scott probably needed to know that his best friend's dead mother was back. Unlike Allison's mother, though, they wouldn't be able to keep this one under wraps.

Danny walked into the backyard called Scott, but the call went straight to voice mail. He just left a message that Scott needed to stop by Stiles' house as soon as he could.

“So, weird night.” Stiles spooked Danny as he slapped him on the back. Danny was surprised he hadn't heard him coming.

“You aren't as weirded out as I thought you'd be when Lydia called,” Danny confessed. “I mean, that could be your mom in there.”

Stiles stared at his fingers. “That's the thing about your mother dying in front of you: there's no way I can believe that's her. I mean, yeah, I have the pictures and dreams of what she might be like now that I'm older, but at the end of the day there's no real person anymore. So as long as I remind myself that isn't really my mom in there that tried to kill me, I'm okay. The thing that I most want to know right now is why Lydia called you.”

“Huh?” Danny played dumb as he scratched the back of neck.

“You know, she could've called Scott or something, but instead she called the new guy. It's weird.”

“Scott is busy playing with the Hales or something,” Danny half-lied. “He mentioned it at werewolf boot camp.”

“What?” Stiles sat in a lawn chair and stared at Danny. “What in the world is werewolf boot camp?”

“Allison and Scott are teaching us how to throw down with the big baddies out there. Remember? You didn't show today, which is why Lydia came over. She didn't tell you?”

“I was kind of busy being tied up by a crazy woman.” Stiles silently offered Danny a seat as he pointed to the bruises on his face. “Besides, I'm still mad at you.”

It was Danny's turn to be confused. “Why are you mad at me?”

Stiles smirked as he leaned forward in his chair. “Because of all the straight guys in Beacon Hills, you made out with Scott instead of me.”

“He told you?” Danny's eyes widened in panic.

“Whoa. What? That actually happened? I was kidding!” Stiles exclaimed before looking thoughtful. “I knew he was gay. He should've just been honest with me.”

Danny slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand and finally grabbed the seat next to Stiles. “Look, dude, don't tell anyone. Scott's not gay. He's just confused. And you can't tell Allison. Nothing happened.”

Snapping his fingers, Stiles started shaking his finger in Danny's face. “It all makes so much sense now: the late nights, the whispering in study hall, the longing looks. You turned Scott gay. I'm not judging. If anyone made me gay I'd want it to be you, but hey.”

“You need to stop.” Danny was already frustrated. “Listen, I know you're trying to not pay attention to what you just went through, but you seriously can't tell Scott you know this. Let me tell him. And try not to be so YOU about it.”

“Yes, Sir!” Stiles saluted.

As much as he wanted to, Danny couldn't write off Stiles bizarre behaviour to PTSD. There had to be a reason that he would even joke about Scott. At least he wasn't questioning how the woman who looked just like his mother came to be in his house. Though, it was weird that he wasn't doing that.

That was Stiles' mother lying on the floor being guarded by Lydia. Danny was sure of it. The question was what they were going to do about her. Even if they got lucky and the Sheriff blocked it all out, there was still the matter of Stiles; he probably wouldn't let them kill her. Again. It was a mess and Danny had no idea how to fix it. He was so sure they'd put down all those revived when he used the stone, and that it only applied to unnatural deaths. How was dying from giving birth unnatural?

“You two should get in here,” Lydia called from the back door. “She's starting to wake up.”

The two boys stood up and walked in together. Danny locked the door behind him.

Lydia double checked the bindings to make sure the couldn't get free before ordering Stiles out of the room.

“Why me? I'm the one whose mother she's impersonating,” Stiles complained. "And you asked me to come in.

“Someone needs to make sure your dad doesn't come down here, and I don't want you to be here if it gets ugly. Now go!” Lydia pushed him out of the kitchen. Stiles grumbled a few unintelligible complaints but left. Lydia grabbed a knife from the block on the counter and held it to the woman's throat as she ripped the gag from her mouth. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing in this house? And don't even try to tell me that you live here because I know better.”

Danny was legitimately scared. The Lydia he knew was always a little cold and hard, but this wasn't the girl he knew at all. Ever since she went crazy, and especially after Jackson died, she'd become distant. The ruthlessness he saw on display in the kitchen was unlike anything he'd ever seen.

“You two aren't that different.” Stiles' mother had a hollow voice and eyes dark that darted between Danny and Lydia. “You both brought the dead back to life. The only difference is that she made sure to bring the right one back. I wish I'd had more time, but this is the end of the road.”

After winking at Danny, Stiles' mom jerked against Lydia and impaled her throat on the knife. Lydia screamed as a geyser of blood hit her in the face. Danny pulled her out of the line of fire and watched as the blood sprayed against the wall and counters. He yelled for Stiles, pulling his phone out of his pocket and calling Scott. Again, all he got was the voice mail.

Every time he thought he was adjusting to his new way of life, something would slap Danny in the face and remind him that he had no idea what he was doing and neither did anybody else.

“What did you guys do?” Stiles yelled when he saw the carnage and a blood-soaked Lydia crying into Danny's shirt. “What the hell did you do?”


End file.
